Access Denied: Clearing Logs on Win2K and NT Servers

\[Editor's Note: Do you have a security-related question about Windows 2000? Send it to rsmith@montereytechgroup.com, and you might see the answer in this column!\]

How can I automate clearing the Application, Security, and System logs on Windows 2000 and Windows NT servers?

ClearEL is a free command-line utility that you can download from TNT Software (http://www.tntsoftware .com/products/free_ce.asp). ClearEL clears a specified local log. EventSave, a utility from Frank Heyne Software (http://www.heysoft.de), lets you clear logs on remote computers. Both programs use the Win32 API. Because of how the Win32 API behaves, both programs create a mandatory backup file of the log. If you don't want the backup files, you'll need a second step in your process to delete them.

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